itchin for some UA stuff...make me sound like harvest

[msmith]

Ahem....And again. Analog Tape!

[meldar produxshunz]

well. i would like to bring this first post of mine officially to a close. i feel like i should. it has been a learning experience. mostly as to how to ask and get the most out of a question AKA never bring up a record that everyone in the universe knows all to well and has an opinion on.
just to clear any misunderstandings and protect my own admittedly new at this rep, initially my asking to sound like harvest whilst packing an apogee and logic was intended to be sarcastic. a round about way of asking how to get digital things to sound warm. maybe not the best method. but hey, good to know for future reference.
and i while i like the sufjan record, its mostly just because it has kind of inspired me to see what going digital has to offer. its not the sound quality or vibe. for me, something new. thanks for the gabbing though.

[Sean Sullivan]

Dude, there might be some post about how much people like Harvest, but there is more than enough information on how to get a vintage sound digitally.

Is your time really so valuable that you can spend 2 seconds scrolling past a post about how much someone likes a certain song? Do you need to know this information immediately? This isn't text messaging where it cost you money to read and send every message. Its not as if someone says "Man, I don't get "A Man Needs a Maid" that it closes the door for someone to post "try a Germanium"

If you really like that sound, buy a 8 track 1/2 tape machine like a Tascam TSR-8 or Otari MX5050 for $500 and some decent tape and dump it into your Apogee. You'll get that awesome natural compression and that vibe you are probably going for. But, that's been suggested several times, and it most not be what you want to hear.

[the brill bedroom]

Let me put in my two cents, if you don't mind. I have a UA LA610 as my main preamp and I love it. If you want to hear exactly what it sounds like, go to iTunes, look up my name: corin ashley and listen to the track "Little Runaround". That was done the day I got the compressor and the acoustic guitar, bass and vocals were all done through it. It was one of two songs on my album where I didn't go to tape and it sounds as analog as the rest of the album.

I think it's a great pre, personally. It's got really natural EQ options, a nice compressor and most importantly: big knobs and a pretty purple light.

[meldar produxshunz]

again, its called sarcasm. but then again, time is valuable, yet not so much that i wont waste it here responding to people stressing that they aren't getting their due or something. but i'm NOT here to argue because likely i don't know half as much as anyone that has written anything here...and i freely admit it. but, do i have to respond to every single opinion just because i asked a question? all i'm trying to get at when i try to keep things on task is that some people here seem to be missing that (like i said) i JUST GOT a digital setup AND first i want to try and make THAT sound good. makes sense to me. afterall, everything here is an OPINION. i have read and considered what each person has said and appreciated it. but if i went along with everyone, i would be screwed. agreed? citizens...countrymen!

[joninc]

check out the vintech 1272 - it's 2 channels of dark chunky transformerness. great for fat vibey sounds. love it on drums and vocals and electric guitars. i have a few other nice ones (great river, chandler tg2, germanium, focusrite isa 428) and it's an excellent value for the buck and really useable with lots of personality and simple to use. then get a art pro vla for some smooth and subtle compression with a little tubey ness to round out the harsher qualities in cheaper mics and digital recording and boom - you are good to go. the germanium is awesome too - so smooth but more like twice the price ($1000+ per channel)

have fun!!

old strings!

low tuned drums!

muted bass!

mics are key - get yourself a few cheaper ribbons for darker smooth roomy tones too.

[Foliage]

E-money wrote:
"A while ago somewhere, I don't know when, I was watching a movie with a friend. I fell in love with the actress, she was playing a part that I could understand"

A Man Needs a Maid

I love that song.


That is a great line.

I guess the orchestral arrangement is pretty good anyway.... it's just much more disjointed than I'd expect on that album. Then again, I do like disjointed....

Damnit. Now I'm torn again. Do you see what I'm talking about? Do you even see? I'll make up my mind about that song one day...

The strings on A Man Needs Maid kinda remind me of the string samples on The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips. That sort of redeems it to me until I remember that I don't like The Soft Bulletin very much.[/list]

[honkyjonk]

Wha?
Ye who doth dis on Soft Bulletin must be a witch!

[fossiltooth]

I totally hear you on the Flaming Lips<->Man Needs a Maid connection. I actually wrote the same exact thing in my original post about it, but decided to delete it because I was getting too long-winded again! Soft Bulletin is definitely an acquired taste. Very much so. After a little while it all starts make sens. Yoshimi is much more accessible. They're both great if you can get into them though. Some people are just instantly turned off by the singer, especially on Soft Bulletin. A lot of people have the same problem with New Order.

Getting back to the original topic, getting digital to sound "Warm" is not an issue if you're good at recording and mixing. However, accurately rec-reating Harvest on a sonic level is an issue.

It is:

A: Difficult, especially if you like any clarity whatsoever.
B: Probably not a good idea if you want to sell any records or have contemporary music fans say "Hey, that sounds great!"

Again, listen to it back-to-back with other, more modern recordings that aren't compressed to death or overworked. It's not "warm" to my ears... more like to downright "dull" on a sonic level. Mastering, mixing and tracking all play a role in this. That doesn't mean that I don't love "Alabama" and "Heart of Gold" and all that stuff. I've also become pleasantly accustomed to the way the album sounds. But I bet if you took your music and made it sound exactly like Harvest, the first time you listened to it next to another record you'd say "My God.... quick give me some EQ and a touch of limiting... please!"

I mean, I love Django Rhiendhardt. If I was recording a modern acoustic -guitar based Jazz record, do you think I'd try to make it sound like a live recording on a crusty, scratched up old 78-rpm record? Probably not. We're talking about extremely cool old records that sound extremely cool because of the music. We're not talking about the most mind-blowing achievements in vintage recording here.

Do I sound like a broken record yet?

[infopimpster]

Let me put in my two cents, if you don't mind. I have a UA LA610 as my main preamp and I love it. If you want to hear exactly what it sounds like, go to iTunes, look up my name: corin ashley and listen to the track "Little Runaround". That was done the day I got the compressor and the acoustic guitar, bass and vocals were all done through it.

Would love to know more about your path for this - it DOES sound like a 610... how to describe in words... meh.... sort of a grain or texture in the high end?

[the brill bedroom]

For the guitar, i can't quite remember which large diaphragm condenser was about 10 inches in front right at the end of the neck, but that was tracked live with the drums about 8 feet away. I also took one of the drummer's sticks away so he couldn't do any fills (he snuck a couple in any way). 2 mics on the drums, can't remember which ones. The Hofner bass with black taepwound strings went direct into the 610 and the vocals were a sounddelux u195 into the 610. As I said, it was the day i got the 610 so we were exited and used it on everything.

[Foliage]

Wha?
Ye who doth dis on Soft Bulletin must be a witch!

I totally hear you on the Flaming Lips<->Man Needs a Maid connection. I actually wrote the same exact thing in my original post about it, but decided to delete it because I was getting too long-winded again! Soft Bulletin is definitely an acquired taste. Very much so. After a little while it all starts make sens. Yoshimi is much more accessible. They're both great if you can get into them though. Some people are just instantly turned off by the singer, especially on Soft Bulletin. A lot of people have the same problem with New Order.

The Soft Bulletin is pretty good, as is Yoshimi. I'm just a really bit fan of the lips during "the Ronald years" ie; Transmissions from the Satellite Heart and Clouds Taste Metallic. I've also found Soft Bulletin to be a bit fatiguing to listen to, I'm wondering if it was mastered too loud or something.

But it's good, good...